Wire twisting machines



Dec. 11, 1962 N. s. DEAN ETAL 3,057,732

WIRE TWISTING MACHINES Filed Mar'Oh 14, 1961 v 5 SheelZS-Sheei'l 2 nqenlor Dec. 11, 1962 N. s. DEAN ETAL 3,057,782

WIRE frwIsTING MACHINES Filed Maren 14, 1961 s sheets-sheet s In entor /1/5 u KFM By 5 M01, @Homey 3,967,782 Patented Dec. 11, 1952 3,067,782 WHRE TWISTHNG MACHINES Noel Spencer Dean, Orrcll, Wigan, and Ronald Frederick Tarbox, Old Coulsdon, England, assignors to British Insulated Cailenders Cables Limited, London, England,

a company of Great Britain Fiied Mar. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 95,527 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 4, 1960 11 Claims. (Cl. 1411-149) This invention relates to a machine for withdrawing two o-r more bare or covered wires from a suitable supply or supplies, twisting the wires together to form a strand and then delivering the strand in substantially helical form to a suitable receiver, where it is `accommodated as a plurality of superposed loops. The object of the present invention is to improve or modify the machine which is the subject of copending application Serial No. 81,346 of Noel Spencer Dean and Brian John Wardley, iiled on January 9, 1961, to make it especially suitable for delivering the strand into a cylindrical walled container of annular cross-section. The term strand is here used in a broad sense as including any two or more bare or covered wi-res or groups of wires twisted together and does not imply lany special arrangement of the Wires or groups.

The machine in accordance with the invention is similar to that of said copending application in that it cornprises means for supporting a receiver for the strand beneath a device hereinafter referred to as a haul-oli device which draws the wires through the machine and delivers the strand downwards to the receiver in helical form, a guide for the wires which is ro-tated about a vertical axis (hereinafter referred to as the machine axis) around both the receiver and the haul-off device and means for leading the wires substantially along the machine axis, through the rotating guide around the receiver and haul-off device and then substantially along the machine axis into the haul-off device, from where the wires fall downwards (as strand) in helical form around said laxis to the receiver. The path of the wires in the machine may thus be upwards substantially on the machine axis outwards beneath the receiver, upwards and then again inwards through the rotating guide and finally downwards in-to the haul-olf device. Alternatively the wires may pass downwards substantially on the machine axis outwards above the haul-off device, downwards and then inwards through the rotating guide and then upwards,

substantially along the machine axis, to the haul-off device. lf the wires follow the latter path a receiver with a central bore or aperture must be used and the wires cut and re-threaded whenever the receiver is changed. For this reason the first mentioned path will generally be preferable.

In the machine in accordance with the present invention we use a haul-off device in accordance with our copending application Serial No. 95,526 tiled on the same day as the present application which compries a ring wall whose internal surface forms an endless track, means for moving the ring wall about an axis encompassed by the ring wall, a pulley which under operating conditions is driven along the track, and means for leading the wires substantially axially towards the centre of the track and then towards and on to that part of the peripheral surface of the pulley that is approaching the track. In this way as the pulley rolls -along its track it momentarily traps between it and the track successive elemental lengths of the wires, thus drawing through the device with each complete circuit made by the pulley a length of strand corresponding to the length of the circuit. The axis of the track may coincide with the machine axis referred to v above and the ring wall may simply rotate labout its axis,

but preferably its axis is displaced a short distance from, but remains parallel to, the machine axis and moves around the machine axis. In the latter case the track need not rotate about its own axis but we prefer that it should. As the strand to the rear of the travelling pulley` is released it falls away from the track substantially as an open helix moving, `at the point of delivery, about an axis encompassed thereby and is collected by the receiver -in the form of a series of superposed loops.

The machine in accordance with the invention is, as 4already mentioned, especially suitable for use with a receiver in the form of a container of annular cross-section and we prefer to provide stationary means for supporting such a container, preferably with its axis coincident with the machine axis. The speed of rotation of the ring wall will differ considerably from and will preferably be low compared with the speed of rotation about the track axis of said pulley incorporated in the haul-off device.

The rotating guide for the wires, which leads the wires around the receiver and the haul-off device, rotates about the machine axis at an angular velocity such that the length of lay of the strand has the desired value. By virtue of the movement of the guide about the machine axis, the wires or groups of wires fed into the machine will be twisted together twice for each revolution of the guide. The haul-oit device will twist the wires together once during the formation of each loop but this twist will normally be taken out of the strand as it is removed from the receiver and hence can be ignored. The speed of rotation of the guide will normally be greater than v the speed of rotation of the yer.

A machine in accordance with the invention will hereinafter be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the machine,

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of the machine and FIGURE 3 is an enlargement of part of FIGURE l.

The machine is designed for twinning insulated telephone wires which pass through the machine along the path marked A to H. It has an open frame built up from two pairs of lower horizontal channel girders 1 and 2, four vertical channel girders 3, and two pairs of upper horizontal channel girders 4 and S. Itis driven by a single electric motor 6 coupled by a gear box 7 to a rightangle drive 8.

A lower driving spindle 9 of the right-angle drive 8 is coupled by a belt 10 to a hollow shaft 11 on the upper end of which is mounted a bracket 12 carrying a horizontal plate 13. The hollow shaft 11 is provided with a brake disc 14, the brake pads for which have been omitted for the sake of simplicity.

An upper vertical driving shaft 15 from the rightangle drive 8 drives a vertical shaft 16 through a belt 17, this shaft also being provided with a brake disc. On the lower end of the shaft 16 is a bracket 18 which carries a horizontal plate 19 similar to the plate 13 and to which it is rigidly attached by three vertical tubes 20, 21 and 22, the tube 21 being broken away in FIGURE 1 to expose other details and the tube 2t) omitted.

Within the cage constituted by the plates 13 and 19 and the vertical tubes 2t? to 22 is a frame comprising upper and lower horizontal members 23 and 24 and vertical members 25 and 26. The upper horizontal member 23 of this inner frame is attached by a spindle 27 to the plate 19 in such a way that relative rotation between the cage and the inner frame can occur but the inner frame is held stationary by a gear coupling consisting of a lower sun wheel 23 carried on the spindle 27, a pair of planet pinions 29 and 311 carried on the ends of a spindle 31 supported on the plate 19, and an upper sun wheel 32 which is free to rotate on the shaft 16 but is held stationary by a cross member 33 extending between the channel girders 5.

An epicyclic gear box 37 :mounted on the lower plate 13 of the cage drives a spur wheel 38 at a speed which is low compared with the speed of rotation of the outer cage. The lower member 24 of the inner frame is supported on the plate 13 through a staticnary member 39 of the gear box 37. The member 24 carries a platform 42 which is a support for a cylindrical container 43.

A cross member 44 supported between the vertical members and 26 of the inner frame carries a bearing 45 (see FIGURE 3) for a hollow spindle 46 which is driven from the spur wheel 38 through a pinion 47, a vertical shaft 48, a pinion 49 and a spur wheel 50, carried on the follow spindle 46. The shaft 48 is carried in bearings 51 and 52 supported by the cross members 44 and 24 of the inner frame respectively.

Referring to FIGURE 3, at the lower end of the hol'- low spindle 46 is a bracket 53 supporting a circular plate 54 from which projects the ring wall 55 and its circular track 56. A hollow spindle 57 passing through a bearing 58 supported by the plate 54 carries at its lower end a yer 59 on which are mounted two pulleys 60 and 61 running on the track 56. The pulley 60 is the operative pulley and pulley 61 is a balance pulley. The ho-llow Spindle 57 and hence the llyer 59 are driven through meshing pinions 62 and 63 and a pinion 64 which runs on teeth cut on the inner surface of a ring 65 carried by a tube 66 projecting downwards from the cross member 42. A similar pinion 67, running on the same teeth as the pinion 64, steadies the plate 54 in its rotation on the hollow spindle 46 with the respect to the cross member 44.

Referring to FIGURE l, two wires to be twisted to= gether are fed horizontally into the base of the machine and follow the path A to H into the annular'cylindrical container 43. The wires run parallel to each other along the path A over a pulley 68, mounted in the machine frame, vertically upwards along a path B through the hollow shaft 11, over a pulley 69 mounted in the bracket 12, along a path C under a pulley 70 and then vertically upwards along a path D through the tube 22. After emerging from the upper end of the tube 22, the two wires pass over a pulley 71 horizontally along a path E over a pulley 72, mounted in the bracket 18, and then vertically downwards through the hollow spindles 27 and 46 along a path F'. From the lower end of the hollow spindle 46 the wires pass into the upper end of the hollow spindle 57 along the path F around a pulley 73 and then along a path G on to the part of the periphery of the pulley 60 which is approaching the track 56. The wires are twisted together to form a strand during their passage through the rotating guide constituted by the parts 13, 19 and 22 and the pulleys 69-72, one twist per revolution of the guide being imparted during the change of `direction caused by the pulley 69 and another twist per revolution during the change of direction caused by the pulley 72. The wires nally pass as strand between the pulley 60 and the track 56 through a tubular guide 74, from which the strand falls as a helix along the path H into the container 43. The parts 53--67 form the hauloff device.

As previously explained, the inner frame carrying the container 43 is held stationary and the plate S4 which supports the ring wall 55 and its track 56 is rotated by the drive from the spur wheel 38 located beneath the container. The spur wheel 39 rotates slowly with respect to the cage consisting of upper and lower plates 19 and 13 and the vertical tubes 20-22.

The axis of the machine is the common axis of the shaft 16, the hollow spindles 27 and 46 and the hollow shaft 11, and the axis of the track 56 which coincides with the axis of the hollow spindle 57 is displaced from the machine axis and rotates about it. The track 56 ro- AYtates once about its own axis each time that axis rotates about the machine axis. Since the container axis coincides with the machine axis the strand formed by twisting together the two wires is distributed evenly therein.

rthe ratios of the various drives are so chosen that the speed of rotation of the track 56 about its axis is small compared with the speed of rotation of the yer 59 and the speed of rotation of the cage, parts of which forms the rotating guide for the two wires, is greater than the speed of rotation of the flyer and so related thereto as to obtain the desired length of lay. 4 l

instead of using spur wheels as the sun wheels, these wheels may have toothed tracks on their facing surfaces and the lower sun lwheel be held stationary by one or more trains of meshing pinions Carried oy the horizontal guide members, one pinion of each train being driven by a toothed wheel, e.g. a bevel wheel, running on the track of the upper sun wheel and another being driven by a toothed wheel running on the track of the lower sun wheel.

instead of a meshing gear coupling, other forms of coupling can be used to hold the outer support for the haul-off device and/or the support for the container stationary, for example systems involving positive drive belts or chains or chain wheels. A magnetic coupling can also be used comprising, for example, xed magnets mounted above the upper horizontal guide and an armature or armatures mounted on the top of the casing below the guide, which would then have to be of non-magnetic material. Other dispositions of the magnets and armature are possible. l

An important feature of the machine is that, in View of the Y-slow rotational movement given to the helix of strand as it issues from the haul-on. device, the container 'can remain absolutely stationary in spatie;

axisenc'ompassed thereby, a pulley, means for driving the pulley along the track, and means for leading the wires substantially axially towards the centre of the track and then onto that part of the peripheral surface of the lpulley that is approaching the track, whereby as the pul-I ley rolls along the track it draws the wires through the machine and delivers the wires as strand downwards to the receiver in the form of a helix which at the point of delivery moves around the vertical axis of the machine, a guide for the wires, means for rotating the guide about the machine axis around both the receiver and the haul olf device and means for leading the wires substantially along the machine axis, through the rotating guide around the receiver and haul-off device and then substantially along the machine axis into the haul-oftr device, from where the wires fall, as strand, downwards in helical form to the receiver.

2. A machine for withdrawing two or more wires from a supply or supplies, twisting the wires together to form a strand, and then delivering the strand in a helical form to a receiver, where it is accommodated as a plurality of superposed loops, comprising means for supporting the receiver beneath a haul-off device, said haul-off device comprising a ring wall whose internal surface forms an endless track, means for moving the ring wall about an axis encompassed thereby, a pulley, means for driving the pulley along the track, and means for leading the wires substantially axially towards the centre of the track and then onto that part of the peripheral surface of the puley that is approaching the track, whereby as the pulley rolls along the track it draws the wires through the machine and delivers the wires Vas strand downwards to the receiver in the form of a helix which at the point of delivery moves around the vertical axis of the machine, a guide for the wires means for rotating the guide about the machine axis around both the receiver and the haulot device and means for leading the wires upwards beneath the receiver substantially along the machine axis, into the rotating guide which leads them outwards from beneath the receiver, upwards and then inwards and means for leading them downwards into the haul-off device from where they fall, as strand, downwards in helical form to the receiver.

3. A machine as claimed in claim l in which the axis of the ring wall moves about the machine axis.

A aine as claimed in claim 2 in which the axis of the ring wall moves about the machine axis.

5. A machine for withdrawing two or more wires from a supply or supplies, twisting the. wires together to form a strand, and then delivering the strand in a helical form to a receiver in the form or" a container of annular crosssection, where it is accommodated as a plurality of superposed loops, comprising stationary means for supporting the container with its axis coincident with the machine axis beneath a haul-oil device, said haul-oit device comprising a ring wall whose internal surface forms an endless track, means for moving the track in such a way that its axis rotates about the machine axis but remains parallei thereto, a pulley, means for driving the pulley along the track, and means for leading the wires substantially axially towards the centre or" the track and then onto that part or" the peripheral surface of the pulley that is approaching the track, whereby as the pulley rolls along the track it draws the wires through the machine and delivers the wires as strand downwards to the container as a helix which at the point of delivery moves around the vertical axis of the machine, a guide for the wires means for rotating the guide about the machine axis around both the container and the haul-off device, means for leading the wires substantially along the machine axis, through the rotating guide around the container and haul-oli device and then substantially along the machine axis into the haul-off device, from where the wires fall, as strand, downwards in helical form to the container.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 5 in which the ring wall rotates about its axis at a speed which is low compared with the speed of rotation of the pulley `about the ring wall axis.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 5 in which the means for driving the pulley along the track and the means for 'rotating the guide about the machine `axis are coupled in such a way that the guide rotates at a speed higher than the speed of rotation of the pulley about the ring wall axis.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the ring wall rotates about its axis and said axis moves around the machine axis but remains parallel thereto.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which the ring wall rotates about its axis and said` axis moves around the machine axis but remains parallel thereto.

lo. A machine as claimed in claim 5 in which the rotating guide comprises a lower member rotating about a pedestal on which the receiver is supported, an upper member rotating about a spindle on which the haul-off device is suspended, and a ysubstantially vertical member interconnecting said upper and lower members, and. in which at least one pair of interconnected planet gear wheels rotate with the upper member and mesh with a pair of sun gear wheels, coaxial with the machine axis, one attached to the machine frame above the upper member and the other attached to the haulaoff device below the upper member, whereby rotation of at least a part of the haul-oli` device about the machine axis is restrained.

ll. A machine as claimed in claim 5 in which the rotatng guide comprises a lower member rotating about a pedestal on which the receiver is supported, an upper member rotating about a spindle on which the haul-off device is suspended, and a substantially vertical member interconnecting said upper and lower members, and in which at least one pair of interconnected planet gear wheels rotate with the upper member and mesh with a pair or" sun gear wheels, coaxial with the machine axis, one attached to the machine frame above the upper memher and the other attached to a frame carrying both the haul-oft device and the receiver for the strand, whereby rotation of the receiver and haul-olii device about the machine axis is restrained.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 723,178 Norman Mar. 17, 1903 2,940,337 Kalb June 14, 1960 2,944,380 Klapper et al. July 12, 1960 

